To not want to breast feed?

[LouBlue1507]

I'm currently 31 weeks pregnant and have decided I'm going to bottle feed my baby.

I know breast is best but the thought of breast feeding really grosses me out and makes me feel sick. It's not something I will feel comfortable doing either.

Not only that but I don't want my baby stuck on my chest all the time.

Before I get flamed, I have nothing against women who choose to breastfeed, I have no problem seeing it, Just the thought of me doing it myself grosses me out.

Are there any other mums to be that feel the same or similar? x

My boobs are wrecked and I only breastfed for a few weeks. I doubt it was the breastfeeding.

I feel that I must however add that in no way is FF equivalent to BF, FF has its place of course, better than starving babies, but it comes with many risks. BF is not a tiny part of life, it quite a big part as not BF is linked with risks of long-term issues, some quite serious indeed. Having said that it is obv not the only parenting choice and does not determine sb's future.

Worra Formula is absolutely not equivalent to breast milk in any shape or form, yes it gives basic nutrients but there is plenty of scientific evidence stipulating why breast milk is the best thing you can give your child.

Dear God

wannabe I haven't read a single thing that proves one child is healthier than another because they were BF or FF in the UK in 2016.

I've seen plenty of 'probably' 'maybe' 'no doubt' etc, but absolutely nothing concrete.

Children thrive through being well nourished, well loved, well educated and well looked after and that can be achieved by either BF-ing or FF-ing.

Health and intelligence seems to be far more environmental and genetic, than down to what milk they were or weren't fed.

FF has its place of course, better than starving babies

Goodness.

I wonder why SMA doesn't use that as their slogan.

Whenever people say things like "Your body/baby, your choice" and "It's your decision", I think yes, that's absolutely true, but it doesn't mean it's a good decision.

Quite Squoosh

My dd has never had BM and couldn't possibly ever have been more healthy and thriving.

However I am waiting for these 'long term effects'....'some serious' to catch up

Oblana, are you one of those people who say things like my friend got breast cancer because she failed at BF?

I'd like some real life stories where people ACTUALLY know people that have not got sick/ or got sick and it's been pin pointed down to how they were fed or if the BF.

I couldn't give two shiny shits what research says. I want to here from some real life people that have been told they are a walking example of how BF has decreased some life threatening illness (because we all know the high achievers in primary school are the ones who had boob )

I couldn't give two shiny shits what research says. I want to here from some real life people that have been told they are a walking example of how BF has decreased some life threatening illness

Do you believe that smoking tobacco can cause lung cancer? That's what the best research suggests and it's a pretty widely accepted fact. But, if I told you I knew someone who smoked 40 a day and lived to the age of 90, would that lead you to conclude that smoking tobacco doesn't cause lung cancer?

I'm struggling to believe that you really think random anecdotes are more reliable than a huge number of reputable scientific studies. Do you reject all scientific research, or only that which disagrees with your personal beliefs?

It's is widely publicised that smoking causes cancer and you generally can see that or know someone who has.
Living proof to back up the papers.

I have NEVER met anyone or heard of anyone where they relate their past BF/FF to what has happened later on in life.

You never hear some saying 'Well my doctor told me I have a brain tumour, most likely because my mum only BF me for a week'

Are those A* students at Oxbridge Breasfeed for 7 years - is that the secret?

Also to add how can they conduct accurate research? Who the hell knows I BF my DS for 3 weeks before switching to formula. It's not on my medical records, his medical records?

How would I be included in this research? Who are they asking? Is it a bit like the 100 people they ask questions to on Pointless?

I haven't read a single thing that proves one child is healthier than another because they were BF or FF in the UK in 2016

It's a little early for research on the effects of BF in 2016, but this UNICEF site provides links to a large number of studies, all carried out in industrialised countries, which have found that formula feeding is correlated with higher risk of the following illnesses:

• gastro-intestinal infection
• respiratory infection
• necrotising enterocolitis and late onset sepsis in preterm babies
• urinary tract infections
• ear infections
• allergic disease (eczema, asthma and wheezing)
• Type 1 and type 2 diabetes
• Obesity
• Childhood leukaemia
• SIDS

Link:

www.unicef.org.uk/BabyFriendly/News-and-Research/Research/Breastfeeding-research---An-overview/

Knits did you miss this section before the bit you posted

•	Carrying out randomised controlled trials which are clearly recognised as the “gold standard” is not always possible as it is not ethical to randomly allocate mothers in a way which arbitrarily may decide that half of the group will bottle feed.
•	Many studies are flawed by staff or mothers deviating from the protocol as this may seem counter-intuitive or too hard to follow in the situation in which they are being cared for or living.
•	Sample sizes, particularly for older infants, become very small, particularly in countries such as the UK with low breastfeeding continuation rates/exclusivity. It is therefore difficult to accurately infer statistics.
•	In specialist areas such as caring for preterm infants, it is difficult to recruit mothers at such difficult times and again, small numbers are reflected in a lack of solid evidence about many aspects of care.
•	Breastfeeding may be documented as having a “small protective effect” against certain illnesses. Whilst it is clearly accurate to say that that the risk of not breastfeeding is greater with some conditions than others, what is a small protective effect in one child is likely to have a much more dramatic effect across a whole population.

Is it a bit like the 100 people they ask questions to on Pointless?

I love Pointless.

But no, proper research, published in peer reviewed journals won't be like that. There are of course all kinds of challenges when researching BF, not least that evidence for the benefits of BF is so strong that it would but be ethical to ask subjects to abstain from BF to test a hypothesis. All you can do is to look at the methodology of each study and see if it seems sound.

I would also add though, that if all of this research is based on flawed methodology then it would be unlikely that bodies such as the WHO, UNICEF and the NHS would base public health advice on it.

Obvs cross post buy UNICEF have clear states the flaws in the research.

No, I read that. It's a perfectly sensible summary of some issues that you need to keep in mind when interpreting studies.

However, I also noted that despite that note of caution about issues such as sample size and lack of RCTs, UNICEF still feel confident in stating: "There has been significant reliable evidence produced over recent years to show that breastfeeding is a major contributor to public health and has an important role to play in reducing health inequalities even in the industrialised countries of the world."

And how does this evidence play into real life m? Where are the examples??

I'm not sure I understand. These studies show the real life health benefits of BF for babies and mums. The subjects of the studies are real babies and their mums, I'm not sure how much more 'real life' you can get?

KnitsBakesAndReads you have just basically backed up what I said WRT the bullet points in your link.

I haven't read a single thing that proves one child is healthier than another because they were BF or FF in the UK in 2016

And having read your link, I still haven't.

KnitsBakesAndReads you have just basically backed up what I said WRT the bullet points in your link.

I haven't read a single thing that proves one child is healthier than another because they were BF or FF in the UK in 2016

And having read your link, I still haven't.

Is there a reason you suppose the findings of research carried out over a number of years in industrialised countries wouldn't hold true for the UK in 2016?

Where are these people?? Has anyone actually met anyone where there life was dictated by how they were fed? I'm being serious!

I keep thinking of all these mums who feed till their child is 7. Everything like they achieve something do they think 'that was down to mummy milk?'

If they develop an ailment from your list doesn't the mother feel like all her efforts were wasted?

YANBU but I would try and convince you to give it a try at least as there are benefits to it. However it can be very difficult and yes it is intense at first having the baby on the breast all the time. I must admit that I found it really hard at first and nearly gave up but in the end I did grow to love it. Its not achievable for everyone and if you find that the idea of it really makes you stressed and impacts on your happiness then that's fair enough to not do it I think. As long as your baby gets fed somehow and you remain as happy and calm as possible those are the most important things. Good luck. xxx